New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Wednesday that taxes in his state "can come down" in the future, despite asking for $1.6 billion in new taxes last month.
Last month, Murphy revealed a budget proposal asking for new or increased taxes, including a marginal tax rate on income over $1 million of 10.75 percent, raising the sales tax to 7 percent once again, and $60 million from excise and sales tax revenue from recreational marijuana, according to NJ.com.
"This is a state on its best day that was a good value for money state. You never went to New Jersey because it was a low-cost place. You went there because you got a rich basket of stuff back for that," Murphy said on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe," when told of complaints from his constituents.
"The problem is over the years the premium has gone up, up, and up and the basket has shrunk, so I view my job as getting control of the premium, growing the economy, cracking the back of property taxes in particular, and then investing in the middle class in that basket of stuff," Murphy said.
Co-host Willie Geist then asked the governor if taxes will come down.
"I think they can come down," Murphy said. "We have to grow the economy, though, and I'm optimistic we can. We're a state that used to rely on the innovation economy. We were Silicon Valley in many respects before there was a Silicon Valley. Infrastructure's a big deal for us given our location. I think if we can reclaim those economies, we're going to get this thing rocking again."
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